Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

Liberty SoftWash · PWS Vender

RE: Wanted: Softwash home and roof equipment

Liberty SoftWash · PWS Vender

They are a 1000 this month, 200 off.

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Jeff we got ours in october and will never go back the the old way of mixing. Worth every penny. Saves so much time and takes all the guess work out of the mix and you never have any wasted mix except whats in the hose but there is ways to use that as well. I would highly recommend getting one.

All Kleen Softwash Systems · Exterior Cleaner

Liberty SoftWash wrote:
Jeff Wible wrote:
Thanks Eric,..have you used them yet,.or are they new and waiting for Spring?

At the moment I'm leaning heavily on one.

Jeff
Brand new! I am losing the udor and replacing with 12v for my son and giving him the liberty truck. He will be doing all house washing for the first yr. I am running air with the PP for roofs. I just got them at the end of season but ray been ruuning all yr. Ed T loves his I think all his truck are 12v with PP.

If anyone up grades to better equipment this off season, please let me know if you plan on selling the used equipment, thanks

Fred W · Guru

Liberty SoftWash wrote:
Some say it change the game with not mixing, I just bought 2 and will no longer be mixing this coming spring.

For some reason I thought you were already using them.......You wont go back!

I have two and need two more for the new truck. I love being able to bump my mix up for this and down for that. The biggest issue is with a 12V if you let a barrel get low.....especially the soap since it's much smaller and does not offer the same "back pressure".

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Diamond Roof Cleaning wrote:
Jeff we got ours in october and will never go back the the old way of mixing. Worth every penny. Saves so much time and takes all the guess work out of the mix and you never have any wasted mix except whats in the hose but there is ways to use that as well. I would highly recommend getting one.

Thanks Mike,.yea,..I can see the benefit and where it would save SH. Many times there are roofs that are much worse on one side than the other,.would be nice to simply adjust ratio on the fly. Much more precise. I see it as a big benefit.

For anyone using the ProPortioner,...the units look as though they come with markings for proper adjustment,..do they seem accurate,..I'm sure they are,..but have to ask.

Also,..what size SH tank are you using?

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Monday 19th of December 2016 05:13:41 AM

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Jeff as far as being accurate they are. You do have to play around a little with the settings depending on what system you use. We use a booster pump with ours and we have 2 12 volt pumps as a backup.

Fred W · Guru

Jeff, I responded here since we are off topic and I thought this would be great to post under the ProPortioner area for "search" purposes.

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Thanks Mike,..I responded to Doug over on the other thread,..but he said the same thing,.pump and overall system dependent. And as I see it,..the percentage markings are more of a reference to get started,..simply due to different systems. I will be using my current 3/8" All-Flo.

Thanks,
Jeff

Liberty SoftWash · PWS Vender

Baton Rouge Roof Cleaner wrote:
Liberty SoftWash wrote:
Some say it change the game with not mixing, I just bought 2 and will no longer be mixing this coming spring.
For some reason I thought you were already using them.......You wont go back!
I have two and need two more for the new truck. I love being able to bump my mix up for this and down for that. The biggest issue is with a 12V if you let a barrel get low.....especially the soap since it's much smaller and does not offer the same "back pressure".

Thanks for the tip I will wacth that.

Nikolas153 · Member

Hi Jeff,

Thank you for shearing information with me.

You asking what is my background - I am a Social Worker - but mechanically minded person, I can build a house if I want to))

I went to Honda PW retailers last weekend and most of the machines are 4/4000 and below like 3/3000.

I will try 4/4000 gear drive machine to start and I'll see how is goes.

Thanks for mentioning about high pressure ball valve and high pressure swivel, I am going to use surface cleaner.

Chemicals still kind of misery for me. I know that SH and CH commonly in use by softwash companies, but what is the second component?

Also from your experience can SH decolourise cleaning surface?

Thanks

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Likely a 4 GPM will be direct drive rather than gear drive,.it would be cheaper at least,..possibly what you meant. You really don't need 4000 PSI.
Years ago and likely even now,.. Many have started with 4/3000.

There are people who do this work with the bare minimum,.and others have all the tools, detergents,etc..to do the job efficiently,..nothing wrong with either I suppose,..as long as you do a good job,...(which can be tough,.especially without knowing the chemicals) But,.start with basic work like house washing, where a few basic soaps are generally needed.

SH doesn't discolor things I personally clean,.houses, roof, decks, concrete or even awning cloth. Just keep it off the laundry the customer hangs on the line.

SH and even a basic soap like dish liquid will get the job done as a basic detergent for regular cleaning of mold on siding. But there are better choices But there are a handful of other chems you will need to learn,.for rust, gutters, decks, grease,..etc.

To tell you everything you need to know would take up several pages,..but the information is all here,..just dig it up. You'll learn things along the way you wouldn't even think to ask about.

Jeff

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Actually S/H will darken wood but wood brightener (an acid, usually oxalic or citrus) will re-store the true color AND neutralize the ph so if you stain esp with latex and acrylic stains or they may fail faster from high ph

Also, if you use SH on white latex paint like house trim that has been painted recently there have been instances of it turning neon green. Latex/acrylic s take 60 days to full cure.

A few people have posted pic's and it's S/Hing but usually goes back to normal in a few weeks.

-- Edited by Maverick Contracting on Tuesday 20th of December 2016 07:01:24 AM

Fred W · Guru

Maverick Contracting wrote:
Also, if you use SH on white latex paint like house trim that has been painted recently there have been instances of it turning neon green. Latex/acrylic s take 60 days to full cure.
A few people have posted pic's and it's S/Hing but usually goes back to normal in a few weeks.

-- Edited by Maverick Contracting on Tuesday 20th of December 2016 07:01:24 AM

Just happened to us on a two year old home (meaning two year old paint!).......Neon green is my company color but clients don't like it on their house for some reason :}

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Yea,.I agree chemical reactions do happen,..high PH will also make older white paint turn orange sometimes. Hit with oxalic or any other acid and goes back to bright white. When he said discolor,.my simpleton mind was answering as to whether it would bleach things out,.like, siding, etc.. Didn't think of the full spectrum of "discoloring"..

Never had SH turn wood dark though? I know NAOH will darken wood,..and even Sodium Percarbonate to a lesser degree.

Jeff

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Oh definitely bleach and pressure washer or rinse will clean it up a lot but once you hit it with brightener it will pop big time

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

On raw wood I prefer DS'ed hydroxide or Sodium Percarbonate through dedicated pump. And neutralize with oxalic. Usually through dedicated pump,..but sometimes can get away with DS'ing it.

Maverick,.did you ever use just citric for brightening?

Jeff

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Hydroxide is more of a HD degreaser and removes old stain and paint.

Yes Jeff. Works as good as oxalic acid. OX basically derived from vegetables and citric from citrus fruits. Both cheap if purchased in pure form. buy dry

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I have been Ds'ing NAOH onto gray decks for the last several years. Learned it from Ken Fenner. Ds'ing is a very fast method of applying detergent to a graying deck. The percentage is very low, and not a degreaser level. Like .5% or something,..depends what you start with,..but I usually do 8 o. per gallon,..then DS. It works just the same as Sodium Percarbonate applied straight. Most guys who DS a gray deck with NAOH rarely go back to percarb,.Just so much faster and easier to mix up.

Jeff

Bryan P · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I did have a problem with SH once on downspouts. The installers apparently used spray paint to hide the screw heads and rivets. The SH took the pigment out of the spray paint so it looked like we sprayed gray primer all over the downspouts.

Fred W · Guru

Jeff Wible wrote:
Hit with oxalic or any other acid and goes back to bright white.

Jeff

You're saying the lime green would have gone back to white?

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Hey Doug,.no I'm not saying that in your case,..what you experienced was a different reaction than what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is aged factory white paint on window seals screen and things like that,..something happens to these factory white finishes as the age,..and the high PH will turn the white paint orange'ish" color. Doesn't happen on newer paint.

I've never had paint turn green before, I tried to go back in time and think if I did or not,..but can't remember any instance when it did.

Jeff

Josh Brown · Member

Patrick G wrote:
I have a used soft wash skid for a six foot bed. Come on down to NY you can have it for $2300

Pat, send me some photos, I'll come get it if it's what I'm looking for 252.314.8284

Patrick G · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Ill send post photos today, but I have been looking around and it seems the skid is worth a good amount more then I thought. I have painted the tanks blue to protect the solution from the sun, this is that new paint that peels right off without a problem. I am still looking to get rid of it, I will probably be posting it some where for three grand. The photos may help you to get an idea what you are looking for...power wash store and Bob at pressure Tek have nice stuff you should look at.

Patrick G · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Ok this is that " rubber paint " comes right off no problem, I do like it for Sun Block.

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Patrick G wrote:
Ok this is that " rubber paint " comes right off no problem, I do like it for Sun Block.

Love the Graffiti

Patrick G · Approved Exterior Cleaner

lol it comes off by hand its that new paint